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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

After days of spring-like temperatures, it's time to break out your shovel again.

A blizzard is on the way, bringing heavy snow and blowing snow to the region. Claude Cote of Environment Canada tells CHSJ News starting at noon-hour on Wednesday we'll see periods of snow, blowing snow and reduced visibility to near-zero. It's expected we'll see winds gusting to about 60 km/hr.

Cote says the storm will start tapering off at about 8pm or 9am in Saint John. We can expect to see about 15 centimetres of fresh snow on the ground by the end of the blizzard.The provincial E-M-O reminding you that strong winds can bring power outages and you should make sure you have everything you need to last you at least seventy-two hours after a storm, including an emergency kit for your home and car. They're also encouraging you to avoid driving if you don't have to during and after the blizzard.

A 31-year-old man has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of assault following a stabbing incident at Eastern College in Fredericton yesterday. Luke Thomas Powers of Fredericton appeared in court this morning.

Police responded to Eastern College on Prospect Street in response to a disturbance, and when they arrived police found that three victims (two instructors, one student) had been injured by a large, long-bladed knife.

Police arrested Powers at the scene. He will appear in court again next month.

RCMP are reporting two Nova Scotia men were arrested on the weekend after a traffic stop in Havelock in which a quantity of marijuana was seized

The vehicle was going east on Highway 2 on Saturday shortly before noon. A search of the vehicle led to the discovery and seizure of about 43 lbs of marijuana, as well as cannabis resin. The seized put could have been used to roll more than 63-thousand joints.

Two men ages 30 and 41 were arrested and later released on a promise to appear in Moncton Provincial Court on March 10.

As the strike drags on at UNB, former UNB Dean Shelley Rinehart tells CHSJ News she knows from experience it's very difficult for the university to hire--because the school isn't competitive even with some of its closest neighbours.

She says she's especially concerned about the students in the MBA program, considering it's an 8-week module and they've already lost a week, which could impact their ability to finish on time.

Rinehart says there are some legitimate issues that need to be addressed and nothing would make her happier than hearing everyone is back at the bargaining table tomorrow.

If you shopped at a Target store in the U.S. prior to Christmas, your name and contact information might have been stolen by hackers.

An email from the company has been sent to some Canadian customers which warns their names, mailing addresses, phone numbers and email addresses may have been taken if they shopped at Target stores in the U.S. between November 27th and December 15th.

Target has said hackers stole data related to 40 million credit and debit accounts in the U.S.

Canadian stores were not affected because they have a separate point-of-sale system.

As the strike by university of professors continues at U-N-B, a lot of people are getting nervous about when classes might resume. There's pressure to resume negotiations and there has been talk of that happening this week.

Union President Miriam Jones concedes at first glance it appears the professors are making good coin so why are they striking but she argues the faculty is aging and not being replaced by younger professors who would be making less. According to Jones, that's what the older professors would like to see because it means there's a commitment on the part of the university to revitalise the faculty with new blood.

As it is, Jones tells CHSJ News the university is replacing fulltime professors with people who teach course by course for what she describes as "peanuts" or on term contracts.

Dangerous and flammable goods commonly make their way through Saint John by rail--and some here and in the outlying communities are worried about what a train derailment or other mishap could mean for public safety.

Common councillor Gerry Lowe tells CHSJ News he's no stranger to issues surrounding rail transport and the community of K Park is in a pretty unenviable position, with long trains regularly passing across its only entryway.

Lowe has been appointed to sit on a committee to work on an alternate way out of K Park in case of emergencies--but says it's likely that committee will also work on other potential rail safety hazards.

It only closed businesses in the Market for one day--but an early-January heating line rupture at the City Market has had far worse implications for three local non-profits.

The Human Development Council, Senior's Center, and PRUDE Inc. were all housed in the Market tower; however, now that it's been deemed unsafe, they'll be looking for new spaces to call home. Deputy Mayor Shelley Rinehart tells CHSJ New previously the organizations were given a grant from the city in lieu of rent--but now they'll have some temporary assistance before they have to make their own arrangements.

Rinehart says there's been discussion of how the space will be used when it's finally brought back up to code.

Contractors are evaluating the damage but there's no word on how long the repairs could take--or their potential cost.